"Do something instead of being afraid." - Let's watch 1990's Earth Day Special!

Remember back in 1990, when Gaia appeared in front of a kind-of-evil Robin Williams in the glorious form of Bette Midler and would've died if not for the valiant efforts of Neil Patrick Harris in-character as Doogie Howser M.D.?



All joking aside, yes, it's the cusp of the 80's and the 90's.  Yes, looked at from a certain angle, it's the weirdest "Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Prequel / "Ghostbusters" and "Back to the Future" Sequel ever.  And yes, this is a nearly two-hour movie where Gaia appears in front of a kind-of-evil Robin Williams in the glorious form of Bette Midler and would've died if not for the valiant efforts of Neil Patrick Harris in-character as Doogie Howser M.D. (and as far as I know, Michael Eisner wasn't involved).  And yes, there is a scene where Midler-Gaia, in a last-ditch effort to save herself, litters, and the litter lands near E.T. (who's just kind of there for reasons unknown), who turns it into a book that teaches some children and IDK, WTF.  But dang me if I wasn't genuinely moved by this special.  I mean, that bit with Kermit and Robin...


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Sketch of the Day!

In honor of all the adorable amphibians out there, meet my #Salamandersona!

Tree-Free and other Green Sketchbook Options

The sad, sorry state of affairs for the ecologically (and economically)-minded artist like myself is that there were never that many good green Sketchbook options. Thankfully, most chain arts and crafts stores have recently started carry at least one tree-friendly Sketchbook brand. Still, it's much easier to find a wide variety of green Sketchbooks in specialty stores (ie, locally, Dick Blick and Bob Smith Stationers). Here are a few that I've used over the years.

Aquabee Tree-Free Hempdraw. I got this for under ten dollars at Dick Blick. It was an absolute joy to draw in. Great texture, loved watercolors and colored pencils, and it scanned nicely. Here's an example:

There's a noticeable texture with some natural fibers showing in the pages.
The only thing that bugs me actually isn't the book's fault, but the fact that certain people may freak out at the giant pot plant on the cover (seen on newer versions of the Hempdraw). Methinks Aquabee should have taken a few more things into consideration when choosing the cover art. Most of the people us art-types hang out with wouldn't care, but we all have to deal with the "Hey, are you drawing?!" crowd once in a while.

Pentalic Nature Sketch and Cachet Earthbound. Nature Sketch (after heavily modifying the cover) has great, heavy paper for watercolors. The large size does not play well with scanners, and I'm not sure if it's recycled. You'd think it would be. A percentage goes to the American Wildlife Fund so... there's that. Here's an example of what mine looks like inside:

The Cachet Earthbound is practically iconic by now. It's got unbleached, natural fiber, brown recycled paper that's durable as hell. It'd be perfect for outdoor sketching... if I could ever find a spiral-bound version. That said, the standard hardbound Earthbound can be found at WallMart and the like. Here's a drawing from mine:

 
Canson (and others) Recycled wire-bound Sketchbooks.
I won't get too detailed here. This is the first Sketchbook I ever drew in. I get all sentimental about it.

Lokta paper:
This is paper made out of a variety of natural and recycled fibers. That means you've got a weird variety of textures to draw on. Now, if you're the kind of artist who just draws for the sake of drawing, then this is fine. If, however, you ever want to look at your sketches a second time for reference -- or you want to not have to break out the hair dryer every time your Sketchbook gets mildly damp (seriously), it's not the best choice.
Which brings us, inevitably, to...

Elephant Poo Paper!
Take a minute. Let it all sink in.
Now, I may have mentioned before that I have a bit of the OCD. So my reaction to this is, "no. Just no."
But for those of you who aren't big babies who go 😱 at animal feces, knock yourselves out. Just remember what I said about natural fiber papers. You don't get much more natural fiber-y than this. I like how there's the option of Panda poo, cow poo, and horse poo.
That's a good place to end this; horse poo.
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Out of nowhere, there is an excellent Onion AV Club Blog post that takes the announcement of the long-in-development-limbo "Mighty Mouse" movie as an incentive to make some wonderfully astute comments on this "Lets turn every animated series into a movie" thing. Or as they describe them, "remaking of some childhood cartoon into a disingenuously winking, cacophonous, computer-sculpted hybrid that neither satisfies nostalgic adults nor placates their mewling, ADD-afflicted children." True that.

How I spent my Arbor Day

Short answer: I worked my butt off.

And here are the new plants I planted. They were all just too unusual to leave at the Giant Hardware Store. I've never experimented with Primula Primroses before and these were the last two they had. The Species Tulips (Tulipa tarda) were just too cool, and they now reside out front. And the little tiny tree is a Redtwig Dogwood (Red Osier to our friends out west, Cornus sericea to everyone else). Technically, it's a shrub. But it'll flower, and it'll fruit, and it may get to be around three times as tall as it is now. (I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules as to what gets to be called a tree and what gets to be called a shrub.)

How about an Arbor day song sung by a Cardinal with an odd-looking beak who can apparently alter his size at will? I can assure you that when I am very old, when I forget everything important in life, I will be singing the line about how "that's where squirrels spend their time!"